“MIT is such a talent-rich environment,” one of the colleagues of our next honoree observed, “when somebody stands out here, they really stand out.” The exceptional individual he’s talking about is Enrique Shadah.

Enrique’s role as Senior Industrial Liaison Officer was to bring more corporate support to the work of MIT researchers, fostering mutually beneficial relationships between MIT and industry—especially valuable as the pace of technological innovation accelerates and federal funding declines. Enrique played a critical role in engaging 5 new industry partners from Mexico (the first from that country) and also recruited two European companies.

At the same time, Enrique reached out to the community, and proactively sought out faculty, research scientists, students, and entrepreneurs to find out what he could do to aid them in achieving their goals. He helped an MIT grad student find $300K of corporate funding for his startup. He helped an MIT scientist land a research contract with one of his member companies. He helped the office create a new service to the community—the Startup Exchange in the Industrial Liaisons Program.

Enrique has just moved over to the Office of Digital Learning follow his passion for the potential of education to change the world. Congratulations, Enrique on your Serving the Client award!